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Monday, May 26, 2014

Memorial Day - How It Came To Be

As I was pondering what my topic for this blog would be it hit
me that this particular post would be going up on Memorial Day. So I decided that a fitting observance would
be to discuss a little about the origins and history of this special day.

In 1866, as
the country was trying to heal from the long and bloody Civil War, a drugstore
owner in Waterloo, NY by the name of Henry Welles, watched the surviving
soldiers come home, some with horrendous injuries and missing limbs, most with
nightmarish stories to tell. Mr. Welles decided he had to do something to recognize the
sacrifices that had been made. He
discussed his idea with General John Murray, a war hero and intensely patriotic
man. General Murray supported the idea
and helped rally the local veterans’ support.

Welles’ and Murray’s suggestion that the businesses in town close up
shop for one day to remember and honor those who had given their lives in the war and
were buried in the town cemetery was met with community-wide approval. On May 5th of that year the shops did indeed
close. The entire village was draped in
evergreens and mourning black, flags were flown at half mast and the
townspeople marched to the three town cemeteries to the sound of martial
music. Solemn ceremonies were held and
the graves were decorated with wreaths, flowers and crosses.

The
ceremony became an annual event.

On May 30th,
1868 General John A. Logan, commander-in-chief of an organization of veteran
soldiers and sailors called the Grand Army of the Republic, established
Decoration Day with this declaration in his General Order 11:

The 30th of May, 1868, is designated
for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of
comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and
whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in
the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and
comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials
of respect as circumstances may permit.

May 30th was chosen as
the date in part because it was not the anniversary of any given battle and so
could stand on its own. That first year,
General James Garfield, who would later become the 20th president of
the United States, gave a
speech at ArlingtonNationalCemetery. Afterwards, an estimated 5,000 people pitched
in to adorn the graves of the more than 20,000 Civil War soldiers, both Union and Confederate, who were buried there.

In 1882 the name was changed to
Memorial Day and by the end of the nineteenth century, towns and communities
across the nation were observing the day in some way. After World War I, the observances expanded
to recognize and honor those Americans who had died in any war in service to
their country.

Of course those early observances in
Waterloo, NY
were not the sole or even the first such ceremonies. Local observances of this type had been
undertaken in many towns across the country since the end of the Civil
War. In fact, even though President
Lyndon Johnson in May of 1966 declared Waterloo NY to be the birthplace of
Memorial Day, over two dozen cities, both in the North and the South, still
claim to hold that honor. Among them are
MaconGA, RichmondVA, CarbondaleIL and ColumbusMS. It is said Waterloo NY received the official
nod from President Johnson because it was the one town that had made Memorial
Day an annual event, one the entire community supported by shutting down
businesses for the day and showing up in large numbers to honor the fallen.

In 1971, Congress declared Memorial
Day a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May. On the national front, Memorial Day is
observed at ArlingtonNationalCemetery
in Virginia
with special reverence. In the early
hours of the Friday before Memorial Day, soldiers of the Third US Infantry walk
along the rows of over 200,000 grave markers, pause before each and place the
shaft of a small flag into the ground before it. These soldiers are members of the Old Guard,
a special regiment, and it is considered an honor to be selected for this
duty. As one soldier said “They have
done their job and now it is time to do mine.”

On Memorial Day itself, it is
customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the
contributions of these fallen heroes and to place a wreath at the Tomb of the
Unknown Soldier. Members of the armed
forces shoot a rifle salute in the air. About
5,000 people attend the ceremony each year (the same number who attended that
first ceremony with General Garfield presiding).

I hope that today, whatever your
plans, you will take some time to remember and honor those who have given their
lives to protect the freedom and quality of life that we Americans enjoy.

8 comments:

Winnie, Thank you for this interesting and moving post. We owe so much to the men and women who have given their lives fighting for our freedom. The love of country and the love of man......Thank you to so many.

Last Friday, I took my mom to decorate my Dad's grave. He was a soldier in WWII. We do it every year and usually go a bit early to avoid the crowds. I never stopped to consider how Memorial Day got started. Thanks for this interesting post.

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